Carbondale, CO

We had a lovely time spent with Rose (Dad's mom's sister). It was very low key which was exactly what we needed -- some TV, pizza and hanging out. Pramod and I are really enjoying spending this time with family (and unrelated friends) and getting to know them all better. It makes me realize how important and easy it is to do so. I'm going to have to remember this lesson as we head into our busy lives. Visiting doesn't need to be extravagant, just a connection.

Driving and Las Vegas

I guess we were a little ambitious in our plans. This was our plan: leave San Francisco in the morning and drive 8 hours to Las Vegas (we at least made it that far!). Then spend a couple of hours there before driving the 10 hours straight to Carbondale, CO starting at almost 1 am. There weren't enough hours for me to sleep before Pramod needed to stop driving so I had a very hard time and we ended up sleeping for a few hours in the car at a gas station. We're only about 2 hours later than we had planned though, not too bad.

We've caught up with the winter though. Utah had some snow on the ground at the rest stop but now we're driving through what looks like the badlands again and there's no trace of snow.

Las Vegas! As Pramod says: "It's like being on a different planet". In India, that's what they think America is. I liked the music playing on speakers on the street so that even in walking from place to place it is like a big party. However, I wouldn't want to live in a city with that.

We had allowed $20 eac for gambling. Slot machines aren't too interesting and we don't know how to play anything else so we quit without spending that much.

We saw lots of Elvis, showgirls, a superman, batman, and Kiss. All very showy stuff. Anyway, it was fun and impressing. I'm glad we made our way down there to check it all out.

On our way

Our return journey began Thursday. We had a pretty uneventful flight home and we were met by Jon (grandma's brother) who was holding a sign that said "Becca" on it. We had a nice relaxing and welcoming day and night with Jon and Kathy. Aunt Nancy also came to visit early today and it was great to see her again. We all spent the day chatting, hanging out and preparing for the upcoming dinner.

Strange things about coming back to the mainland:

- It felt weird to be driving on a real highway where people go fast!

- The temperature wasn't cold--certainly not any colder than the chilly Hawaiian nights we were having up on the coffee farm, but the air felt crisp. I'm glad we're going to have a coupld of days of fall before heading off to winter.

A problem with Hawaii is that it never freezes and it is often very wet. Without freezing, even just for a couple of hours in the night, there's no period of hibernation and killing of bacteria and it feels like things never get really clean. Maybe that was due to the accommodations that we had but I'm realizing that I really do like winter.

- It was really weird getting into our car and it felt like a distant but familiar memory.

Dinner last night was great. I spent a while talking to Devon (mom's cousin), playing with her kids, and playing music with Mark. I'm glad my violin was still with me! What a great night it was. We have both really enjoyed all the time we've spent with the Searles clan. Very fun and loving people. Good to finally meet them.

This morning we left really early in order to get breakfast with Katherine in San Francisco. We met Katherine on the first farm when we were in Hawaii. We don't know when we'll meet again b ut it's good to know we have another friend waiting for us in California.

Now we're off to Las Vegas for the night. GPS says we'll be there in 8 hours!

Realization

I realized something great today. I want to go back to school to get my masters in accounting. I just need to do it. Here's how I found out:

I had an awesome weekend with Monica and her friend Shane who moved here int the last couple of months. He has this idea to get a grant from the government to start an avocado farm and visitors center. He says that there are over 100 different varieties of avocado on this island and he would like to have taste testings, raw food and vegetarian cooking classes, etc. He said he has all he needs except for someone to deal with the money. My initial thought was: "what a cool idea, I want that to happen and I would love to deal with the money for that!". And I would!

While this avocado thing may never happen or it may but I may have no part in it, I think my true colors showed themselves. I like math, money and organizing things. I just needed a cause that I'm interested in to call me to it (unlike my accounting teacher at the tech who used to work in food sales... boring!). My next move: Boston to get my masters in accounting!

Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was unlike any I've ever had before. Pramod and I, along with the other WWOOFers here, were invited to a party hosted by Albert's friend. However, come Thursday morning, we had no idea where it was, what time dinner was at, or how we were going to get there. We did have Albert's phone number, but instead of calling him right away we had a relaxing morning where I read for hours (I finished The Road by Cormack McCarthy).

We then decided that it wasn't important for us to go to the party--so we had the day to ourselves. We went in to town to see the new Harry Potter movie (so good!) then came home to the ham and pecan pie that the farm owner had left for us for Thanksgiving. One of the neighbors had also left us a fish that he'd caught.

Pramod grilled the ham and boiled the fish and I warmed up some leftover mashed potatoes and made a pasta dish which turned out pretty good. While we were cooking, Abby and Jesse (another WWOOFing couple from Oregon) came home from the beach. They had also decided to skip out on ths party. We, plus one more, shared in on the good food and drink. It ended up being a pretty good Thanksgiving.

I realized something too. We didn't actually talk about what we were grateful for, but I did think about it. I'm grateful for Pramod. The thought of being without family for this holiday was saddening to me. However, Pramod got me through that and I enjoyed my day with him. I'm grateful that I have him here with me through everything. He's shared the amazing-ness of this trip with me. He's also been there through my crankiness, sadness, and stress. He's been an amazing travel partner and I'm glad I've had him to share the load with -- both literally and figuratively.

Weekend with Albert

This weekend was for sure the best weekend I've had on this island. -- it included staying in resort-like accommodations, kayaking on the pacific, chanting Hindu style, and swimming with dolphins!

On Friday all of us WWOOFers packed a cooler of food for the weekend. Albert took us all to Captain Cook that evening. We went camping at the farm owner's beach house. This place was amazing! A huge lot with two full houses (the caretakers live on the property for free and do indoor & outdoor work for these people--I'm very jealous of their situation. We all actually camped outside except that Pramod and I didn't bring our tent to the island so we got to sleep in the "tree house" which was so nice!

Albert was also great: he made lots of fish meals on his camping stove for the group, fish that he had caught, and he cooked veggie burgers for me.

The next day we all took out ocean kayaks. By the way, it turns out that I get extremely sea sick, at which time it helps to jump off the boat into the beautiful, blue, warm water. We went over to the Captain Cook monument and snorkeled. We love snorkeling and just watching the fish. On the way over we saw dolphins! Pramod and I got out of our kayaks to swim with them but got scared seeing the nothingness that was below us and went back. That was our dolphin experience for the day--seeing them swimming and jumping from the safety of our kayaks.

That night, Albert and everyone else moved to a different campsite. Pramod and I hitchhiked to a kirtan which we found out about through Monica and her hosts. It was so much fun and we met some really great people who made us feel like Hawaiias a living spot may not be such a stretch. So that was fun and exciting. Pramod also met an Indian man living here who is married to an American woman.

After that night of chanting, we returned to the group at the campside. Not for long: we left them again the next morning to swim at Kealakekua Bay (again) where Monica texted us from to let us know the dolphins were there! And the were just jumping, spinning and swimming around and under us the whole time we were there! It was incredible. I was so nervous to do it but Monica reassured us and we could hear them underwater. I guess they will sometimes actually be interested in a person and swim side by side with them. We didn't get that close, but I'm so happy by what we did get. What a magical place Hawaii is!

Two Step & Kealakekua Bay in Captain Cook

Today Pramod and I went down to Captain Cook to meet our friend from the other side of the island, Monica. Monica is farming in Captain Cook and is also close enough to these beaches to swim with the dolphins in the bay every morning. In fact, someone who lives on the beach calls the farm when the dolphins come, which seems to happen very frequently in the morning. I guess dolphins come into the bay to rest and take care of their young and then the go out to sea to hunt later in the day or at night.

However, the dolphins were not at Two Step or at the Bay when we were there...

TTwo Step is the best snorkling place on this side of the island (we have been told). It was pretty amazing. Lots of fishes. Pramod and I learned how to snorkel under the surface of the water from Monica. Amazing stuff.